Roald Dahl was probably my favorite author as a kid, so although it pains me to give one of his only adult-ish novels a poor review, it's pretty unavoidable. I realize now that Dahl was sort of a less edgy, kid's version of [a:Kurt Vonnegut|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1233193902p2/2778055.jpg], fine and well for kids and teenagers, but a little lacking as an adult. To be sure, Dahl was doing weird and kooky before Vonnegut was, so I'm not sure how much he may have influenced the latter.

This story, an early Cold War cautionary tale about the destructive tendencies of mankind, suffers primarily from being too adult for children but too childish for adults. The premise -- subterranean Gremlins who are waiting for humanity to kill itself through global warfare in order that they may take reign of the Earth -- has potential, but Dahl can't help making it too cartoony, thus completely diminishing any power that his socio-political insights and moralizing might have had.

Unfortunately, I don't think the book merits much more of a review. It is a quick read, which is a plus for any Dahl completists. But it is also rather trivial, and in the great amount of existential war satire (or even Cold War critique), it falls much closer to the bottom of the pile than the top. If you are looking for better adult-ish fare from the same author, I highly recommend one of my favorite collection of short stories of all time, [b:The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More|6671|The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More|Roald Dahl|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348132169s/6671.jpg|3159194]. ( )